Bishop Richard Allen: (1760-1831) Founder and first Bishop of
the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Richard
Allen was born a slave on February 14, 1760 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He was a religious leader, founder and first bishop of the African Methodist
Episcopal (AME) Church.

In 1768 Allen was sold along with his family to a plantation
owner in Delaware. He began to attend Methodist meetings and in 1777
he was converted to Methodism. To pay for his freedom Allen began to
preach at Methodist churches
in Delaware and neighboring states, and became a free man in 1786.

In 1787, Allen and others were denied the
right to worship God in St. George Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia
(now the United Methodist Church). He politely walked out, and created
the Free African Society.

Allen opened the Bethel
African Church on April 9, 1794, and was ordained its deacon. And in
1807 a Pennsylvania Supreme court ruling upheld the right for the black
Methodist congregation to determine who would preach at the Church.

In 1816 the churches
were united under the name of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME)
Church and attendants elected Allen bishop of the new denomination,
a position he held until his death on March 26, 1831 in Philadelphia.